Ella Buchanan died Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at Johnson Memorial Care Center in Dawson, MN at the age of 98.
Memorial services will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2017 at 11:00 AM at the Church of the Nazarene, Hewitt, MN. Lunch with the family will follow the service. Burial will be in the Wadena Cemetery.
Ella Mae (McDonald) Buchanan was born in Wadena, Minnesota to Ira and Mabel "Mabella" (Mangels) McDonald on January 25, 1919.. She was the second of 5 children. She attended country school until the 8th grade.Ella married Charles Buchanan on January 1, 1941 in a double ceremony with her sister, Hazel. They had six children, 3 girls and 3 boys.
As a farmer’s wife with 6 children to feed, she got in a lot of cooking and baking practice. After her children were grown, she worked as a baker in a bakery and as a cook in a restaurant for 10 ½ years. When another restaurant in town, the Dagwood Diner was put up for sale Ella says “I decided then that I’d rather work for myself than someone else!” She and her husband bought the little diner in Wadena. All the food at the Dagwood Diner was cooked from scratch, from morning rolls, the lunchtime soups, to the homemade pies and potato salad. Ella opened the diner at 5:30 AM every weekday, but was in much earlier, baking for the day. They had many regular customers.
Ella used her weekends for volunteering for 4-H and church women’s groups. She enjoyed needlework such as quilting and embroidery, ceramics and antiquing. She and Chuck liked to go to auction sales on weekends off from the diner. They also liked to travel and went to California and Arizona. They always traveled by car, never by air.
Ella is survived by her children: Joan Bakken, Wadena, MN, Robert (Gail) Buchanan, Watson, MN, Dan Buchanan, Watson, MN, Bill (Carolyn) Buchanan, Grand Rapids, MN and Kathy (Norm) Whitaker, DeSmet, SD; grandchildren: Toni, Jason, Allen, Wayne, Monica, Heidi, Allen, David, Robert, Amber and Sandi; 21 great-grandchildren; 4 great-great grandchildren; sister Marion Plautz; brother, Chuck McDonald; as well as many nieces, nephews and extended family.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Charles in 1994, daughter, Pat Jacobsen, great- grandchild, Grace Buchanan and sisters Hazel Messer and Dorothy McDonald.